1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable bandwidth filter and more particularly to a variable bandwidth filter that includes either a parallel or series combination of a fixed impedance, such as a capacitor, and variable impedance, such as a variable capacitor, which enable ideal capacitance values for the filter to be approximated thereby enabling a single control voltage to control the filter bandwidth.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Variable bandwidth filters are known in the art. Examples of such variable bandwidth filters are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,633,119 and 5,541,558. Such variable bandwidth filters are used in a wide variety of application including radar, communication and remote sensing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,119 discloses a multi-stage intermediate frequency amplifier. The stages of the multi-stage amplifier are coupled together by interstage coupling filters. Each interstage filter includes two resonant circuits that are capacitively coupled by a T network forming two series legs and one shunt leg connected at a junction. Each leg of the T network includes a varactor diode. A control voltage applied to the junction raises the effective capacitance of the series leg while lowering the capacitance of the shunt leg thereby varying the bandwidth of the filter. Unfortunately, under certain conditions, varying the control voltage in order to the vary the bandwidth can cause the center frequency of the filter to shift. Shifting of the center frequency can be highly undesirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,558 discloses a wideband bandpass filter in which the center frequency and bandwidth are variable. The wideband bandpass filter includes a tank circuit coupled between an input and output tapping circuit. The tank circuit includes a variable capacitor and an inductor in parallel. The tank circuit determines the center frequency for the bandpass filter. The input and output tapping circuits each include variable impedance devices. The input and output variable impedance determine the bandwidth of the filter. A problem with such a circuit is that the variable elements must be tuned separately because of the interdependence of the various elements forming the filter. As such, multiple control lines are required for each of the variable impedance devices which greatly increases the complexity as well as the cost of the circuitry.